Making a Turned Cowboy Hat
By Ray Lanham with Guilio Marcolongo
Aussie turner, Guilio Marcolongo begins his attempt at teaching me how
to
turn a wooden cowboy hat. Guilio graciously gave me this block
of Costal
Banksia to use for my first hat. It had been removed from a golf
course on
Prince Phillip Island, just South of Melbourne, because it had
been infected
by borers. The blank weighed over 100 pounds!
We first began by laying out a wide brim and the center section of the
hat. Cut down two weeks previously, the blank had been sealed with
stretch
plastic to keep it from drying out.
A hole for a worm screw in the center of a 3" faceplate was first
drilled.
The small face plate with the worm screw was then screwed in by hand.
Four long screws were then inserted into the blank through holes in
the
faceplate.
